Ezekiel Gillespie

Biography

Ezekiel Gillespie (May 31, 1818 – March 31, 1892) was an African-American civil rights and community leader who won a landmark case securing voting rights in Wisconsin. Gillespie was born a slave in Canton, Mississippi or Greene County, Tennessee, probably the son of an African-American slave and her European-American slave owner. As a young man he purchased his own freedom for $800. He traveled to Indiana, and soon moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he sold groceries and then worked as a railroad porter. He quickly became a leader in the African-American community. He operated a local branch of the Underground Railroad, pushed Richard Allen to open Wisconsin's first African-American church, and also played a role in the Joshua Glover controversy. In 1865, at the insistence of Sherman Booth, Gillespie attempted to vote. He was denied a ballot, so he sued the Board of Elections. Gillespie v.

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